Many languages use sets of 102 tiles, since the original distribution of one hundred tiles was later augmented with two blank tiles. In tournament play, while it is acceptable to pause the game to count the tiles remaining in the game, it is not acceptable to mention how many tiles are remaining at any time.[1] Several online tools exist for counting tiles during friendly play.[2]

English-language editions of Scrabble contain 100 letter tiles, in the following distribution:

2 blank tiles (scoring 0 points)

1 point: E ×12, A ×9, I ×9, O ×8, N ×6, R ×6, T ×6, L ×4, S ×4, U ×4

2 points: D ×4, G ×3

3 points: B ×2, C ×2, M ×2, P ×2

4 points: F ×2, H ×2, V ×2, W ×2, Y ×2

5 points: K ×1

8 points: J ×1, X ×1

10 points: Q ×1, Z ×1

The total number of points is 187.

When Alfred Butts invented the game, he initially experimented with different distributions of letters.[3] A popular story claims that Butts created an elaborate chart by studying the front page of The New York Times to create his final choice of letter distributions.[4]

In 2004, Super Scrabble was launched. For international distribution outside the United States and Canada, and under license from Mattel, the game is manufactured by Leisure Tends' Tinderbox Games; and, for distribution within the United States and Canada, under license from Hasbro, the game is manufactured by Winning Moves. This set is composed of 200 tiles.

Afrikaans uses the letters Z and X, but so infrequently that there are no tiles for them in the standard set. A blank can still be used as a Z or an X. There are also no tiles for C and Q as these letters are not used at all in Afrikaans, except for in a few loanwords.

Although Arabic letters have up to four forms, Scrabble tiles only make use of the isolated form. This pattern of composing words is also found in Arabic crosswords and is one of the rare situations when Arabic letters are not connected to each other.

Accents and diaereses are ignored; for example, À is played as A. Nevertheless, there are special tiles for the C with cedillaÇ (ce trencada), the ligature L·L representing the geminated ell (ela geminada), as well as the digraphNY. Playing an N tile followed by a blank tile to form the digraph NY is not allowed. Official rules treat the Q tile as just one letter, but usually Catalan players use the Q tile like the QU digraph and all Catalan Scrabble Clubs use this de facto rule.[1](Catalan)K, W, and Y are absent because they are only used in loanwords or, in the case of Y, the digraph NY.

There is a Catalan Scrabble clone which uses the same 21x21 board as Super Scrabble.[9][10] It includes the following 200 tiles, with the Q tile replaced with the QU digraph, and with two of the special tiles, Ç and L·L, increased in value:

Prior to March 1998, there was a difference between the Dutch and the Flemish version: the Dutch version had 2 IJ tiles with a value of 4 points. Furthermore, it had only 1 F and only 4 S tiles; and the face value of the G was only 2 points. The Flemish version never had IJ tiles, it was as described above. The Dutch version is now in line with the Flemish one. Instead of the IJ letter a combination of the I and J is now used.

Another Dutch version prior to March 1998 consisted of these 100 tiles:

This distribution lacks Q, Š, W, X, Z, Ž, and Å, since they are virtually absent in Finnish. Arguably B, C, F, and G (outside the digraph NG) do not exist in Finnish either, but they are included as they are used for borrowed words, and F in some western dialects.

German-language editions of Scrabble contain 102 letter tiles, in the following distribution:

2 blank tiles (scoring 0 points)

1 point: E ×15, N ×9, S ×7, I ×6, R ×6, T ×6, U ×6, A ×5, D ×4

2 points: H ×4, G ×3, L ×3, O ×3

3 points: M ×4, B ×2, W ×1, Z ×1

4 points: C ×2, F ×2, K ×2, P ×1

6 points: Ä ×1, J ×1, Ü ×1, V ×1

8 points: Ö ×1, X ×1

10 points: Q ×1, Y ×1

Note that the letter ß(Eszett) is not used. This is due to the fact that it does not exist as a capital letter in German. While a majuscule ß (see Capital ß) has been established in the context of computing (Unicode), ß is replaced by SS when capitalizing, according to German orthography (e. g. Straße [street]: STRASSE). However, the umlauts Ä, Ö and Ü must not be replaced by AE, OE or UE when playing (as would usually be done in German crosswords where ß is also replaced by SS). Other diacritics which may occur in some foreign words are ignored (é = E, œ = OE etc.)[14]

Complete Set of old German Scrabble Tiles

Before 1989–1990, German sets had 119 tiles. Players had eight tiles at a time on their racks, as opposed to the standard seven today. The old letter distribution was:

2 blank tiles (scoring 0 points)

1 point: E ×16, N ×10, I ×9, S ×8, R ×7, A ×6, D ×6, U ×6

2 points: H ×5, T ×5, C ×4, L ×4, O ×4, G ×3, W ×2

3 points: M ×4, F ×3, B ×2, K ×2, Z ×2

4 points: P ×1, V ×1

5 points: Ü ×1

6 points: Ä ×1, J ×1

8 points: Ö ×1, X ×1

10 points: Q ×1, Y ×1

A third blank was included in the set, but not included in the game. It was just used so that the tiles could be packaged in equal sized rows.

German sets sold in North America by Selchow and Righter in the 1970s and 80s had 100 tiles, with a distribution as follows:

2 blank tiles (scoring 0 points)

1 point: E ×12, I ×8, N ×7, A ×6, S ×6, R ×5, T ×5, O ×3, U ×3

2 points: C ×4, D ×4, H ×4, G ×3, L ×3, Ä ×1, Ö ×1, Ü ×1

3 points: M ×3, B ×2, F ×2, K ×2, P ×2

4 points: Z ×3, V ×2, W ×2

8 points: J ×1

10 points: Q ×1, X ×1, Y ×1

In 2008, a German edition of the Mattel-licensed product, Super Scrabble, was released by the game publisher Piatnik. The set is composed of the following 200 tiles:

4 blank tiles (scoring 0 points)

1 point: E ×29, N ×17, S ×14, I ×11, R ×11, T ×12, U ×12, A ×10, D ×8

2 points: H ×8, G ×6, L ×6, O ×6

3 points: M ×8, B ×4, W ×2, Z ×2

4 points: C ×4, F ×4, K ×4, P ×2

6 points: Ä ×2, J ×2, Ü ×2, V ×2

8 points: Ö ×2, X ×2

10 points: Q ×2, Y ×2

The underlines indicate the distribution contains one tile fewer for the letter than would be if the 102 tiles of the current language set were simply doubled.

Q and X have no tiles as they are not used in Haitian Creole, while C is only used in the digraph CH, and U in OU and UI. This version is made for educational purposes and is not an official edition by Mattel.

J, K, Q, V, W, X, Y, and Z are absent since they are rarely used in the Irish language.

An alternate set, used by Scrabble3D along with the official set,[16] has these 100 tiles:

2 blank tiles (scoring 0 points)

1 point: A ×11, I ×8, Á ×5, Í ×5, L ×5, N ×5, R ×5, E ×4, O ×4, S ×4

2 points: C ×3, Ċ ×3, D ×3, G ×3, M ×3, Ó ×3, T ×3, Ú ×3

3 points: B ×2, Ḃ ×2, É ×2, Ṫ ×2, U ×2

4 points: Ḋ ×1, F ×1, Ġ ×1

5 points: Ṁ ×1

8 points: P ×1, Ṡ ×1

10 points: Ḟ ×1, Ṗ ×1

Note that H is not in this set because it is only used at the beginning of the words starting with vowels, which is against the rules there. Note: This set uses the old orthography. In the new orthography, the dotted letters are replaced by the digraph of the letter without the dot followed by H.

There are three kinds of Latin-language Scrabble sets developed by three authorities in the language.

The first distribution, developed by the Centre for Medieval Studies of the University of Toronto, uses these 100 tiles:

2 blank tiles (scoring 0 points)

1 point: E ×12, A ×9, I ×9, V ×9, S ×8, T ×8, R ×7, O ×5

2 points: C ×4, M ×4, N ×4, D ×3, L ×3

3 points: Q ×3

4 points: B ×2, G ×2, P ×2, X ×2

8 points: F ×1, H ×1

The second distribution below was made "in conjunction with scholars from the University of Cambridge and elsewhere, together with the Cambridge Schools Classics Project." This distribution distinguishes U from V, with the semi-vocalic V scoring five times the points. Y is absent in both sets because it is rare in Latin, but is in an extended version of the first distribution, and is worth 10 points there. K and Z are also absent in both sets because they are rare in Latin, while J is not considered separate from I. W is also absent in both sets because it did not exist in ancient times, and is used only in modern borrowed words.

The letters Q, X and Z are absent since these letters are rarely used in Norwegian. These letters and the foreign letters "Ä", "Ö" and "Ü", which are used in a few Norwegian words, can be played with a blank.

This set has been used since 2000. Before that year, a slightly different configuration was used: Ź was worth 7 points, F was worth 4 points, and there were 2 Fs, and 8 As. The letters Q, V and X have always been absent (since they are used in foreign words), and blank tiles cannot be used to represent these.

H is absent because it is only used in the digraphs above. J, K, Q, V, W, X, Y and Z are also absent since they are rarely used in the Scottish Gaelic language. This version is used by Scrabble3D and is not an official edition by Mattel.

Stress accents are disregarded. The letters K and W are absent since these two letters are rarely used in Spanish words. According to FISE (Federación Internacional de Scrabble en Español) rules, a blank cannot be used to represent K or W.

Swedish-language Scrabble sets (for a long time sold in Sweden as Alfapet, but that is now a different game) use these 100 tiles:

2 blank tiles (scoring 0 points)

1 point: A ×8, R ×8, S ×8, T ×8, E ×7, N ×6, D ×5, I ×5, L ×5

2 points: O ×5, G ×3, K ×3, M ×3, H ×2

3 points: F ×2, V ×2, Ä ×2

4 points: U ×3, B ×2, P ×2, Ö ×2, Å ×2

7 points: J ×1, Y ×1

8 points: C ×1, X ×1

10 points: Z ×1

Notice that the letters Å, Ä, and Ö have separate tiles. Diacritical marks are ignored, such as for É (Ü being an exception). The letters Q and W, which are rarely found in Swedish words, are absent. However, they can be played with a blank. The letters Ü and Æ require a blank and (as of 2010) only occur in one and three playable words respectively, müsli and three forms of the word Laestadianism (in Swedish spelt læstadianism).

Since there are specific tiles for the digraphs that are considered to be separate letters in Welsh orthography (such as DD), it is not permissible to use the individual letters to spell these out. Diacritics on letters are ignored.

The digraph PH exists in Welsh, but is omitted because it is used almost exclusively in mutated words, which the rules disallow. K, Q, V, X and Z also do not exist in Welsh. Arguably J does not exist in Welsh either, but it is included as it is sometimes used for borrowed words.